Creek Connections to Showcase Waterway Research by Local Students

CreekConnections will host its 21st annual student research symposium on Friday, April 7 in the Henderson Campus Center at Allegheny College. Community members are invited to view students’ project displays beginning at 10 a.m.

CreekConnections is an outreach program of Allegheny College that brings hands-on, inquiry-based education about watersheds to students ranging in age from middle school to high school.

Throughout the school year, participating students retrieve water samples and conduct research on waterways in their community, monitoring the conditions that affect the creeks’ water quality. At the research symposium, they come together to share interactive research displays and hands-on workshops with their classmates, teachers and the community.

“This is a chance for students to show off the results of a year’s worth of rigorous, hands-on work to their teachers, their peers, and their family and friends,” said Laura Branby, Pittsburgh area educator for CreekConnections and director of the program’s annual Creek Camp. “It’s their time to shine.”

The symposium will showcase the work of students from northwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Representatives from environmental and environmental-related organizations will interact with the students to present their work and talk about career opportunities in environmental fields.

Among the schools planning to participate are Bradford High School, Bristol High School (Ohio), Cochranton High School, Conneaut Area High School, Conneaut Lake Middle School, Creating Landscapes’ Learning Center, East Elementary School, Fort LeBoeuf High School, Hillview Intermediate School, Lakeview Middle School, Maplewood High School, Northwestern High School, Saegertown High School, Strong Vincent High School, and Youngsville High School. Elementary students enrolled in Crawford Central School District’s gifted program also will participate.

A Pittsburgh area symposium on April 21, at YMCA Camp Kon-O-Kwee in Fombell, just west of Zelienople, will feature the work of students from across southwestern Pennsylvania.

During the past year, CreekConnections has been supported by Allegheny College and individual donors as well as by grants from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, PPG Industries Foundation, the Henry C. Frick Educational Fund of the Buhl Foundation, Grable Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Education program and the Allegheny County Conservation District. CreekConnections also received support during the past year from Palmiero Toyota and through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program from Fluidraulics Inc. and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.